Whole Lot of Leavin'
by greaserlove
Summary: Sandy's messed her life up big time. She's hurt the person she loved most, and now she has to start all over again in a new place with her disapproving grandmother and a baby on the way. Rated T for themes.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Outsiders, S.E Hinton does.**

-----x-----

"I mean it, Evie. We need to talk," Sandy lowered her voice to a more serious tone. She shifted her books to one arm to open her locker.

"Why can't you just tell me outside? I'm going out with Steve tonight, I told you." Evie tapped her foot, and let out a frustrated groan. "Just pick another night to talk to me. Don't we have plans this weekend, anyway? Tell me then."

Sandy grabbed the books she needed to take home, and closed her locker quietly. She looked down at the ground as Evie and she made their way through the hallway, Evie continuing on about why Sandy could talk to her another day. They walked down the parking lot, and headed for the road. Sandy still hadn't uttered another word. Evie stopped talking and grabbed her friend's elbow.

"Okay. What's wrong?"

Sandy raised her head, and Evie took note of the dark bags under her eyes. She bit her lip and averted her eyes from Evie's gaze. "I, um…" She looked down and took a deep breath. "I'm in trouble, Evie. I, um, well, remember that week when I was _really_ mad at Soda a couple months ago?"

Evie nodded.

"Well, I met this boy, John, who seemed really nice, and was really respectful to me," Sandy cleared her throat. "He was all gentlemanly with how he talked, and he comforted me when I told him that Soda and I were having problems…"

"Wait- you talked to another man, other than Soda, about your relationship?" Evie asked with her eyes wide. Sandy nodded.

"Well, he's in a few of my classes, and he's always so kind to me, so we started talking…I mean, _really _talking. I felt special with him. I don't really get that from Soda, you know?"

Evie nodded. Soda and Steve were often preoccupied talking about work, and didn't pay much attention when her or Sandy got to talk.

"Anyways, I talked to him about it, and he lent me a shoulder to cry on. So I see Soda this one day, and we get into a fight about his flirting with girls at the station, and I get really riled up over it. Then, I head over to Buck's house for a few drinks to help distract my thoughts, and I bump into John."

Evie squeezed her eyes shut and rubbed her temples. "Sandy, you didn't…"

"I don't know what to do, Evie. He led me upstairs with his shoulders back, and he looked so sure of himself…I can't…I can't believe I went through with it. I just wanted to show Soda how I felt when he's always turning on the charm for the DX girls, and because of that little streak of jealously I felt, I've ruined my life."

Sandy slowed her words as she finished talking, and felt tears well up in her eyes. Evie opened her eyes and put her hand over Sandy's sympathetically.

"I went to the doctor yesterday," Sandy added. Evie looked away.

"You keeping it?" Evie asked quietly. Sandy answered yes, and breathed in a slow and deep pattern.

"That's not all... it might be Soda's. I saw him the night after and we made up, and things led to other things…"

Evie patted her hand. "Okay, Sandy, I gotta go meet up with Steve. I forgot to tell him that I was with you when we left school, and he'll probably think I'm off with another guy. You'll be okay," she reassured.

Sandy nodded and tugged nervously at her yellow blouse. Evie started off back to the school, and Sandy watched as she spotted Steve leaning against the wall of the school, his eyes staring hard off into the distance. Evie squealed and he turned to her and his eyes lit up, and then he greeted her with a kiss in a passionate embrace.

Moving her hand to her lower abdomen, Sandy closed her eyes and pictured her and Soda curled up on his bed, their fingers entwined as they looked deeply into each others' eyes. She rubbed her fingers lightly over the ever so slight bump, and opened her eyes.

She couldn't put him through that. Darrel and he had gone through so much trouble to make life bearable for their broken family, and here she was contemplating on whether or not to bind him to her for the rest of their lives.

A tear slipped out the corner of her eye as she made her decision, and she began her walk home to talk to her mother.

-----x-----

"Sandra, you don't always have to express love in a physical form," her mother lectured.

"Things went a bit too far, Mom…I'm sorry. It wasn't his fault, it was mine. Please don't do anything rash." Sandy pleaded.

Her mother leaned forward on the sofa and put her hands over Sandy's.

"We'll move to Florida with your grandmother, and nobody will have to know what you did. Besides, she's quite lonely, and could use the company." She said slowly, and then smiled when she finished stating her plan. She rubbed Sandy's hands and reached to embrace her when she saw her daughter's eyes filling with tears. "Oh, honey, don't cry… You can just tell Sodapop that you need to start over. And that you're _not _going to get into any trouble with him ever again."

Sandy burst into tears, and hugged her mom tightly. She'd told her mom that it was Soda's. Her mother and she had a good relationship, most of the time, since her father had passed away in Vietnam recently, and they'd needed to comfort each other. No good would be done in telling her the whole truth, and having her mother think her a whore. A white lie would do.

She sniffled, and wiped her tears with the back of her hand. "When do we leave?" She asked quietly.

"I'll have to call your grandmother tonight, and make plans for you to leave as soon as possible. I'll have to stay behind for awhile to sell the house and talk to the welfare agencies…"

She'd have to start a new life. Sixteen years old…Now she'd have someone else to take care of, when she was still only learning to take care of herself.

"Mom, I have to go see Soda. I'll be back later…" Her mom nodded.

Almost at Soda's house, Sandy fidgeted with her hands nervously. Her feet seemed to become heavier as she approached the Curtis household, and she stopped at the gate. "He'll be okay," she reassured herself quietly, and entered the house.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Outsiders, S.E Hinton does.**

-----x-----

"Hey, Sandy," Ponyboy said, who was kneeling at the doorstep putting on his shoes. "Soda, your girlfriend's here. I'm going out to a movie with Curly, I'll be back later," he called, and then hurried out the door.

Soda flung the door open to the bathroom and came bounding to the doorway where she stood, his hair dripping wet and his white shirt sticking to his wet chest. Sandy shifted the weight to her back foot and turned her head, trying to ignore the sight that would once make her jump on him and shift their attention to the bedroom.

"Hello my baby!" He sang, and lifted her up in a tight embrace. She instantly blushed, and felt her heart fill with love. He put her down and pressed his lips against hers, and she instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck, his hands to her waist. Familiar warmth fluttered through her body and he pressed his against hers. Their lips gently parted to allow their tongues to meet, but Sandy pulled away quickly as she remembered the reality of the situation.

"Soda…" she started, and he pulled her to him again with his face twisted in confusion. "No, honey…" She moved his hands from her waist. He lowered his eyes, and walked over and sat down on the sofa. She quickly sat down beside him, and put her hand on him. "Whoops." She moved her hand down to his thigh, her cheeks burning as she realized where she'd placed her hand. He sucked in a breath, and then squirmed awkwardly in his jeans.

"Soda…this is really hard for me to tell you…" she closed her eyes and her grip tightened on his thigh. He looked down at her confusedly. Things had been going well between them lately, as far as he knew.

"I'm sorry, Sandy. For whatever's going on right now. I should've realized that you weren't in the mood for that…" he said softly, "I'm sorry."

"Oh, hon…"

"In fact, I'm going to stop talking, and listen to what you need to say, and then I'm going to hold you in my arms, and give you all of my love and care. What is it?" He looked at her with his eyes glowing, and kissed her forehead.

"I'm…" she stopped and tried again, but couldn't finish, and broke out into a sob. Why did he have to act like such a doting boyfriend _now_? "I'm pregnant."

He was silent for a moment, unmoving, and then suddenly sprung to life.

"Then you can marry me! I'll put in extra shifts at the DX, you can move in with me an' Darry and Pone, and we'll make it work! I love you, Sandy. No matter what, I want you to know that I'll be there for-"

"My mother knows. She's sending me away to Florida to live with my grandmother." She interrupted harshly, and then reached up to cover her face with her hands. "Oh Soda, I'm sorry. You know how my mom is, and especially after Dad died, I couldn't fight with her about it. I love you too," she said softly, her voice lowering to a whisper. She took deep breaths and tried to fight off the tears that threatened to escape.

He moved his hand over her stomach, and closed his eyes. The rubbed at the slight bulge and smiled sadly. "Hey, baby," he cooed. Sandy leapt up from the couch, and a tear ran down her cheek.

"I've got to go home now," she gasped. She turned and ran out the door, and then burst into tears.

He could be there for her and the baby. He could marry her and they'd provide a loving home for their child…A child, who she wouldn't know if it belonged to him, or John, until way down the road. How a gift could be so precious and small could ruin an entire life, she couldn't understand. But Soda wouldn't want to be with her if he knew the truth…she slowly trudged home, thinking of how to say so much in a letter.

-----x-----

Sandy opened the front door to see her suitcase resting against the couch, and her mother drinking tea and chatting to someone on the phone. "I'm home," she quickly said with a wave, and then headed to the kitchen for some water.

"Of course she's a lady! I raised her well, mother. What? I didn't _tell _her to go do that! You know how life is on our side of town. Had you provided us with more money- I loved him! Just… don't be too hard on her. She'll see you tomorrow night. Goodbye."

Sandy heard her mom slam the phone down onto the reciever, and jumped.

" Sandra, your grandmother is doing the _extremely _selfless thing of letting you move in with her immediately for the duration of your…condition," her mother called, and she could sense the look of disappointment on her face. "I've packed your things already, don't worry. Although your grandmother will be purchasing a new, more appropriate, wardrobe for you. She'd fall dead at the sight of you now."

Her heart sank, and she felt weak. One mistake had the power to take her life away from her. With a sigh, she dragged her feet to her room and began to write to the one person she hated to leave the most.

-----x-----

She squeezed her eyes shut and groaned, wanting to slap away the hands shaking her boxy. "Sandy, wake up. You have a plane to catch."


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Outsiders, S.E Hinton does.**

-----x-----

"Rule one: you are not to stay out passed curfew, which will be eight. Rule two: You are to come straight home on the bus afterschool, and I will supervise you and make sure that your homework gets done before you go out," Sandy's grandmother, Eugenia, said coldly. "Your mother just had to run off and marry that good for nothing hoodlum…" She grumbled. "Rule three," she started again, "You are not to have your bedroom door closed, or be alone with any boy. Your mother has informed me that you and that perverse boy are no longer in contact, and won't be ever again, which I'm very thankful for. But to make sure that you forget him, his name is banned from my home. If you are to break any of these rules, you will be sorry."

Sandy swallowed back tears and nodded her head. Eugenia scowled at her trembling lips. She squirmed uncomfortably in her wool skirt, and felt her legs burning through her stockings. She was fine with decent clothes, but the thickness and coverage in Florida seemed a bit insane.

The taxi took a turn, and Sandy's eyes widened at the neighborhood. They weren't mansions, but they certainly were a lot more than her leaky-roofed, peeling paint, poor home she'd grown up in. They looked like houses you'd see on television, and inside she could imagine wives preparing dinner for their husbands, just arriving from work. She saw little girls playing with dolls on their porches, smiles on their face. Everything was picture perfect. Sandy wondered if she'd eventually grow to like it.

The car pulled to a stop, and Eugenia quickly paid the driver after stepping out. Sandy carefully stepped out and rubbed her eyes groggily, realizing how exhausted she was. She hurried after her grandmother, not wanting to make any mistakes on her first day.

"Your room is upstairs, second on the left. You are to unpack your things and organize them neatly in your closet, and come back down for dinner." Eugenia stated, and then spun on her heel and headed off to the kitchen. Sandy readjusted to a better hold on her luggage, and walked up the stairs. She saw a room on the right that she assumed to be her grandmother's room, and couldn't help but stare. The furniture was antique, and the high quality showed how well taken care of it was. She quickly remembered what she was supposed to be doing when her stomach grumbled. She turned around and entered her room, and immediately noticed how the bed was obviously cheaper than the bed she'd seem in Eugenia's room. She sat down on it, and cringed at the hardness. Her own bed had been softer.

Sandy dropped her things on the floor, and opened the closet doors. There were clothes in it- ladies clothes. She examined then closer, and recognized a few from her mother's old photos that she'd taken with her when she came to Tulsa. She concluded that this had been her mother's room.

After hanging up her clothes, she decided that she needed to ask her grandmother for some more weather appropriate outfits. She smelled food downstairs and felt her stomach lurch, and ran to the bathroom.

-----x-----

Waking up cold was normal, but felt odd this time, considering the rest of her surroundings. Sandy sat up and groaned, feeling her back aching from the hard mattress. She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples, feeling awful.

Eugenia had found her curled up on the bathroom floor and had demanded that she scrub the toilet immediately, and wore a look of utter disgust as she handed her the cleaning supplies. Sandy had her no longer warm dinner as soon as her stomach was settled again, and went to bed exhausted.

The bedroom door opened, and Eugenia stood in the doorway.

"You slept in passed breakfast. Get dressed immediately; the bus will be here shortly." And with that, she shut the door again. Sandy hurried over to her closet and slipped on a blue shirtwaist dress, and headed to the bathroom. She combed her hair quickly and tied in a bow in her hair, and quickly applied lipstick. She ran down the stairs and to the door, and froze when her grandmother stood in front of the door.

"Wipe that makeup off, and take out that horrendous bow. I'd expect that you would have learned the effects of using your looks to allure young boys, Sandra." She scowled. Sandy wiped off the lipstick and took out the bow, and walked out the door with her head down as the bus honked the horn. She felt sorrow deep in her heart, and found herself reminiscing on the bus. She closed her eyes and pictured Sodapop's arms around her, his lips softly joining hers, they're fingers entwined…

She felt a thud beside her, and opened her eyes.

"Hey, I haven't seen you around here. You new?" A girl with big blue eyes grinned, and giggled, and continued. "I'm Betty Anne. Those are my friends over there," she gestured to the kids across her seat. "What's your name?"

"Sandy," she responded quietly. She glanced at the group of girls and felt her pulse quicken nervously. They wore the hippest of clothes, and had movie star hair. Girls like that would spit on her shoes back in Tulsa, she thought. Did they have Socs in Florida?

"Betty…" One of Betty's friends nervously looked behind her. Sandy tilted her head to try and find what she was looking at, and saw a boy making crude gestures. Betty's eyes narrowed, and her cheeks flushed.

"Get bent, hood!" Betty glared, and the boy leaned back in his seat in a fit of laughter. Sandy noticed that he did stop, though. She also noticed that she'd used the term "hood", and felt her heat sink. There was no way she'd fit in here. They'd find out about the real type of girl she was…in only a matter of months, her body would be showing it.

The girl who'd asked Betty for help thanked her, and smiled at Sandy. Betty smiled the same way, and turned to her.

"Sandy, you should eat lunch with us. You seem pretty boss."

"Sure, thanks," Sandy said shakily, waiting for them to realize any second that she herself was a hood. Betty didn't seem to notice anything, and continued chatting with another friend in her bubbly tone. The bus came to a stop, and Sandy took a deep breath before taking her first steps onto her new school ground.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Outsiders, S.E Hinton does.**

-x-

"Sandy!"

Sandy turned and searched the crowd of students in the cafeteria in search of the person who called her name. Her first classes of the day had been doable, and she felt a hope that her grades would turn for the better with all the time she would have studying at home. Might as well make the best of it, she thought.

Sandy quickly spotted the girl from the bus, Betty Anne, and a couple of her friends, waving at her. She smiled shyly and walked over to the table they sat at.

"Hey," Sandy said quietly. and smiled. A few boys sat at the table, who quickly looked at her, then went back to talking to eachother. Betty stared at one of the boys with a dreamy look, then looked back at Sandy.

"How were your classes? Donna said that you're in her English class," Betty smiled sweetly, and looked over at the same boy. "Hey David, have you met Sandy yet? She's new."

The boy, David, looked up at Sandy and grinned. His hair was a dark chocolate brown, and his eyes matched. He sure fit the description of tall, dark, and handsome, she thought.

"Hey, Sandy," he said with a nod. She quickly said hi, and turned to Betty again.

"My classes were alright. Yeah, I saw Donna. I didn't get a chance to say hi to her, though," Sandy quickly said, thinking of how she spent majority of her classes daydreaming about Soda anyway. Making friends with her classmates seemed to be the least of her worries.

"You should totally sit beside her nexttime. The teachers here only like teaching panty waists, and us girls oughtta stick together." Betty said, nudging Sandy. Betty ate half of her lunch, and tossed the rest of it into a trash can. "Gotta watch my figure," Betty whispered to Sandy with a wink. Sandy's eyes widened, and Betty broke into laughter. "Relax, girl!"

Sandy forced a smile, but felt her stomach twist. Watching _her_ figure wasn't an option.

Throughout the lunch break, it became evident that David was the cool cat of the group- the other guys agreed with everything he said, and Betty couldn't keep her eyes off of him. It also became evident that David couldn't keep his eyes off of Sandy. Every time that Sandy looked around at the group, she would catch him staring at her. She quickly turned away whenever this happened, and became distracted with thoughts of back home.

She could be in Tulsa, skipping a class to see Soda at work. He'd tell her about the work he'd done in the day, and she would smile as he rambled on and on about things she didn't understand at all, but things that which she knew he was passionate about. His eyes would light up with excitement, and her heart rate would slow down comfortably, his presence always relaxing for her.

And then there was the dark eyes that kept breaking her thoughts...

David was still drawing designs on her, which was starting to make her uncomfortable. She looked away, not wanting to meet his gaze. She couldn't stand the thought of another man looking at her that way; the way Soda used to undress her with his eyes before they would meet eachothers passionate embrace. The thought of David doing the same made her feel dizzy, and she stood up from the table abruptly.

"Sandy?" Betty asked, looking at her surprisedly. Sandy put her hand to her head, then realized that she didn't need to worry about her diziness. She started walking, and then broke into a run before clutching her stomache and heaving into the trash can. Her mouth tasted bitter, especially from the absence of breakfast, and tears spilled down her cheeks. She heard her name called, and several people shouting out in disgust, but didn't turn back to look when she ran out of the room.

-x-

Sandy sat in the nurses office, looking down at her hands in her lap. The nurse had left the room to get her file, and she dreaded her return. Her stomach had settled down considerably, but she still felt a knot from the thought of all of the people who saw her throw up. So much for new friends, she thought.

The nurse entered the room, and shut the door quickly. "So," she started. "you are pregnant. Have you considered how this will affect your school life? I can't imagine the kind of people you must assosciate with."

Sandy's cheeks burned red, and she swalled hard. "I'm fully aware, ma'am. My life before the baby is to be strictly focused on school, and I'm doing my best."

The nurse scowled, and shook her head. She mumbled something about youth these days, and wrote a note for her to give to the teacher of her next class. "So you won't get in trouble for being late," the nurse said as she handed it to her. Too late for that, Sandy thought bitterly.

For the remainder of the day, Sandy's motions and responses seemed purely automatic, and she felt no need to put extra thought into her work. She took notes, did what was asked, and didn't distract herself with conversation with students. As the bell rang, she stood up with her already packed up materials, and headed out the door as fast as she could.

She hurried out the steps of the school, and avoided eye contact with the students collectively filing out of the school. She grabbed a seat on the bus quickly, and prayed that nobody would sit down next to her.

Surely enough, Betty Anne slid into the seat beside her, chattering away to another girl who sat in the seat opposite from theirs. Sandy recognized the girl that was in her English class, and quickly remembered that her name was Donna.

"Honey, are you okay?" Betty exclaimed. "We were all so worried about you! It must've been the cafeteria food. The smell is so revolting sometimes, I can hardly keep food down myself!"

"Yeah... it really was awful," Sandy said, hoping for her to drop the subject. Betty gave her a sympathetic squeeze on the hand, and then turned back to continue her conversation with Donna.

"Hey, Sandy, you feeling any better?"

Sandy looked up to find David turned around in the seat in front of her. She felt her stomach lurch again, and she groaned.

"Whoa! Take it easy, kid, you don't look so hot," he said. Sandy gave him a weak smile, and then averted her eyes from him.

"Just a bit embarassed, that's all. Not exactly a great way to get to know everyone, you dig?" She said with a shrug. He nodded, smiling.

"Yeah, I dig." He replied. She looked up at him. "Hey, you think you might want to hang at the A with us sometime? It'd be a blast with you there."

Sandy bit her lip, and nodded. "Sure," she said. Donna in the other seat leaned over and waved to her, and she smiled.

She leaned her head against the window the rest of the way home, wondering how David was so smooth with his words, and how on earth he managed to get her to agree to going out with the group outside of school. She sighed, and couldn't couldn't help wondering if she would get the chance to go out with friends when she'd have a prominent baby bump. She smirked, thinking of how foolish her thoughts were. Why worry about making friends when you're going to be a mother in a matter of months?


End file.
